This song is wild - obviously put together quickly, the arrangement is sparse, there's no percussion to speak of, the whole thing sounds really slapped together... but the lyrics & vocal performance is the best that Dylan had done since 'John Wesley Harding'. In some ways, this reminds me of 'She's Your Lover Now'; there's some real bite here... this is more likely about Joan Baez than 'Visions of Johanna' ever was ('Heard your songs of freedom and man forever stripped/Acting out his folly while his back is being whipped' could be a direct ref to the continuing political agendas she pursued, but who knows.
It may sound like a rehearsal for 'Idiot Wind', but 'Dirge' is too often overlooked.
No-one has commented on this, but I willl.
This song is wild - obviously put together quickly, the arrangement is sparse, there's no percussion to speak of, the whole thing sounds really slapped together... but the lyrics & vocal performance is the best that Dylan had done since 'John Wesley Harding'. In some ways, this reminds me of 'She's Your Lover Now'; there's some real bite here... this is more likely about Joan Baez than 'Visions of Johanna' ever was ('Heard your songs of freedom and man forever stripped/Acting out his folly while his back is being whipped' could be a direct ref to the continuing political agendas she pursued, but who knows.
It may sound like a rehearsal for 'Idiot Wind', but 'Dirge' is too often overlooked.